Great Divide Oak Aged
Yeti Imperial Stout - Denver Colorado

Oak Aged Yeti is Yeti Imperial Stout’s sophisticated sibling. They
may be from the same clan, but they have entirely different
personalities. Oak aging gives a subtle vanilla character, rounding
out Yeti’s intense roastiness and huge hoppy nature. Who says you
can’t tame a Yeti? 9.5% ABV

Beer Review by Beer Advocate
Appearance: A black beauty, this body pours incredibly thick; looks like motor
oil coming out of the bottle. There’s some absolutely silky caramel-brown cream
on top; great strings of lacing as it settles. Retention is a smooth, even layer
of richness.

Aroma: Here we go: intensely oaky at the start, with a bourbon spice of
barrel-aging. Chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon-sugar hang around in light
fashion, mellow and complimentary to the wood scents – soon after, some toasted
maple aromas open it up quite nicely (though in a syrupy way). Hops are next,
adding a pine-floweriness to the sugar powerhouse; still, the marshmallow-sweets
prevail as the dominant players. And then there’s the finish: damn, it’s that
chalky yeast aroma that I’ve picked up in every other Yeti I’ve tried. It’s
lighter here, making this the best nose I’ve had among the Great Divide stouts
so far.

Taste: Chocolate-covered pine cone! Rich, syrupy dark chocolate and a
pine-citrus brightness combine in a manner that I can only describe as one of
those chocolates filled with lemon cream. After, it starts to show its true
character: palpably woody – smoke and char, coffee and vanilla, barrel and booze
– and full of complex flavor. A bittersweet cocoa profile is overarching in this
palate, but there’s a salted caramel and oily nut taste that digs deep into the
oozing maltiness. Some leafy tobacco (generic cigar) in the aftertaste, with
biscuity and chalky yeast for that final chocolate smoothness, as well.

Mouthfeel: Loveably thick, with only a hint of froth and fizz. At the perfect
temperature, it feels like drinking skim milk – more refreshing and satisfying
than it sounds.

Overall: This is one devilish beer, so much so that the sky turned dark as soon
as I started drinking. Oak Aged Yeti is POWER, and too big to ignore. The best
dark beer from Great Divide I’ve ever had; so good. I feel bad that every Yeti I
taste is in the vein of “well…it’s good, but there’s X amount of chalky
chocolate yeast flavor,” but that’s how it is. Still, I enjoyed it; my favorite
Yeti so far.

Great Divide
Brewing - History
In 1994, Colorado’s craft beer scene scarcely existed, but Brian
Dunn recognized Denver’s potential to be a great beer city.

Combining his business background with his passion for beer, which
was developed through his international travels and his experience
as a homebrewer, he decided to start a brewery. He set up shop in an
abandoned dairy-processing plant at the edge of downtown Denver and
began brewing the beers that would eventually carry Great Divide
Brewing Company to its status as one of America’s most decorated
microbreweries and would help transform Denver into an international
destination for beer lovers.

Great Divide brews some of the globe's most balanced yet assertive
and flavorful beers. These beers have landed an impressive amount of
acclaim: Great Divide beers have earned 17 Great American Beer
Festival medals and 5 World Beer Cup awards. Great Divide was also
ranked 8th in Ratebeer.com’s 2010 “The Best Brewers in the World”
and was ranked 7th in Beer Advocate’s 2010 “All-Time Top Breweries
on Planet Earth.”